09/21/2026
🌸Look at Hillary's 'September Charm'! Such an appropriate name for this late season, charming perennial.
Though we call them Japanese Anemones, they are truly native to the grasslands & open woodlands of central China. Once their gentle beauty was understood by plant collectors in the 1800s, these lovely plants became garden staples around the world.
These herbaceous perennials produce elegant, saucer shaped flowers - single, semi-double, or double - in shades of pure white, blush pink, rose, and soft purple, each centered by a dense boss of golden stamens. The colorful structures we call petals are in fact sepals (or tepals) - true petals are reduced or absent, a floral architecture typical of many Ranunculaceae (their family members). Bloom begins in late summer and continues often until hard frost on slender, branching stems that rise high above a basal mound of deeply lobed, vine-like foliage.
🌸Japanese anemones deliver critical late season resources when many other nectar and pollen sources have faded. Their flowers are especially rich in pollen, which bumblebees actively harvest with their characteristic buzzing vibration, while honeybees and solitary bees collect both pollen and nectar. Hoverflies, butterflies, and occasional hummingbirds also visit. By extending the flowering window deep into autumn, these plants support queen bumblebees building fat reserves for hibernation and honeybee colonies preparing for winter. The persistent, fluffy seed heads can later provide soft nesting material for hummingbirds in spring. In a garden or naturalized setting they therefore function as a keystone late season resource, bolstering pollinator diversity and abundance at a time of scarcity.
Graceful in a breeze, deer & rabbit resistant, low-maintenance, non-invasive, friendly with their nearby garden companions & a tolerant of many conditions, why not plant some?!
🌸Stop by today and find a great selection of Japanese Anemones in perennial house P8.
